Regarding blisters, I haven't gotten any since I stopped using MX gloves and started using mechanics gloves.

$20 at home depot. Sometimes the stitching is off, so paw through the rack to get good ones. They feel a bit slippery when new. After the first 5 minutes are great.

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Thanks for the tip. I've eyed them up in the past, but was weary of them feeling like they had a seam on the inside of the thumb. I'll pick some up though as I'm in need of some gloves here. Any issues with them keeping your hands too warm?

Falling in the creek didn't help with things.

I've tried these as well:

I had to stop after the first lap of my race to stop and take them off. It threw off how I normally held onto the grips and caused the most intense arm pump. I think I still have them somewhere, so maybe I'll have to give them another try.

I find I have a couple things happen to me each year.

1. I get 1 bad hand blistering towards the beginning of the season. After that, my hands are good the rest of the season (aka, need to ride more during winter).
2. I over-heat myself while riding. Did this this past weekend at the MX track. Improper nutrition & pre-hydration and pushing too hard on the MX track added up to me feeling like absolute crap.

No problem with too-warm hands. Not that that means much. I ride in below 40F temperatures as often as over 80F.

I just get callouses now, they just don't progress to blisters. No issues with the seams, but of course YMMV. I have converted some friends, though, so you'll have to blame all of us if they don't work for you.

Menards had a deal on some mechanic gloves for 4.99$, so I grabbed a pair. They seemed fine, but then after awhile the palm seemed to stretch out quite a bit. Not only that, but the dye they used turned my hands a nice black\blue.

I tossed them in the wash, so I'm hoping they shrink up a touch.

On top of that, the WZ290F is acting up again. It's losing coolant, and was making some disgusting random noise. The water loss is coolant pump related as it's leaking out the weep hole. The noise....I dunno. I'm hoping it's a situation of just the water pump impeller maybe being loose? I dunno. I've been too annoyed with it, and far too pleased with the WR450F to really care.

Speaking of riding, we spent some time riding at the "DD Farm" on Saturday. Aside from chafing my knees (forgot my knee guards), I found that I'm having a hell of a time with my flat ground right hand turns. Left hand isn't as much of an issue, because I can trail brake as I like, and be a bit more aggressive on the throttle\clutch at the same time. I spent some time working on it, but as my knees were essentially bleeding from pushing them into my tank with no protection, it made being too aggressive a real pain.

Suggestions for working on this? I spent some time doing the Shane Watts circle\square drill. I also spent a lot of time working on the exact turn I was having an issue with. I got quicker as I began to trust just putting my weight on the outside foot, and just throttling, while keeping my eyes up ahead. Not sure what else to do. Hire a coach? Ride with some AA guys?

I also need to dial in some rebound damping on the WR. That bike will get a little funny the more I push it.

Off to finish some work, then take my wife to Chicago for our anniversary tomorrow and then head to the UP on Thursday. Put some good miles on the WR

Well, I had some good riding in the UP a few weekends ago. Weather was kinda crappy, but that's the UP for yah. I got food poisoning one night (though thankfully very minor). Oddly enough I rode rather well the day after not feeling well. I pinched a tube on the Saturday, and did my best to do a 10 minute tire change (probably more like 20 minutes with scouting for a tool to prop up the bike). A KTM rider in the group lost his rear wheel bearings later on that day, and that single picture I snapped would come back to bite me in the rear.

I mentioned last time that the WZ290F was acting up. Well, I started digging into it to see if I could find the problem. The coolant loss was immediately explainable with the water pump bearing looking like it had failed (coolant loss out the water pump weep hole). The odd noise in the engine however, was a different story. I noticed some shrapnel in the oil filter, but nothing was immediately apparent. I pulled the complete clutch basket and was able to get a good look inside.

Not the easiest to see, but:

Main bearing failure. Ok, no biggy, tear down, replace the bearings and rock n roll. I figured while I was waiting on parts, may as well check the crank. I'd feel kinda goofy if I didn't so into the lathe it went to check for trueness. Standard spec - 0.0012". Max out of concentricity - 0.002". Measured - 0.005" Ok, so all we need now is a new crank, bearings, yadda yadda yadda. I began cleaning up more of the parts to find this:

Well, looking like we're going back to a 250cc on this thing, cause that cylinder is done. Is it Friday yet?

Now I'm just deciding if I keep the WR trans in it, or toss the YZ trans back in. I'm thinking the YZ trans may go back in, as it'll be fine for racing purposes (if the bike ever sees one).

Which by the way, 2nd race is this Sunday. Cool thing too, is on the 21st I'll be racing a local Stadium MX event. At this point, I'll be on the WR450F racing 450B.

Ok back to work and attempting to figure out how to fund all these bike repairs. Might be cheaper to buy a new bike.

I didn't get to race the 250F this past weekend, so I was back on the 450F. Bit of a tradeoff here. 450F had fresher tires, which was better for the slick conditions. Downside is that the 450F is a heck of a lot heavier than the 250F. I was unable to test the 250F prior to Sunday, so I opted for the 450F. Was logical. As far as the race goes though......

I had a crap start. I'm pretty sure I was last or 2nd to last off the line. Only perk there was that I was able to snake around the bottleneck in the first turn. I was pushing best I could, though could not get in a good groove. I just wasn't flowing well. I passed a good number of people in the following laps, but at about 30 minutes in I lost my rear and had a heck of a spill. Almost called it quits at that point, especially after I saw all the guys I had passed......now passing by me. I figured that would be weak and motored on, until I had to stop and take a leak. I rode a bit better after that, but again it sapped some time. I shoulda went for a 5th time just before the start, but what yah gonna do.

The facility decided that for the afternoon race (A\B classes) that they'd add some extra excitement into the mix. We tend to get a longer course, and they tend to add in their creek section and a bit more of their MX track and things like that. I found out on the first lap that they also had just made a small endurocross section. The mini endurocross section was definitely not something I was expecting. With the trials background, I've got no real issue with going over just about any obstacle. The issue is that committing to go over the obstacles at "race pace" is easier said than done lap after lap. I know that I can just "jump" the sized logs they had, but committing to that is difficult. Great risk\reward type thing. I tended to opt for just double blipping over the stuff. It worked well, but it saps energy, but tended to be pretty safe for getting over everything.

As the race went on, I found I did better and better through the creek section. I found I could easily pass people there as I'd pick a point to go to and gas it, pick a point, gas it until the end. Amusingly enough, the faster I went through this section, the less effort it took. I knew though that if I went down, I'd for sure be paying for it.

I was pretty fatigued by the end of the race. My lower back wasn't tightening up, but the crash early on really put a damper on my performance. I was extremely hesitant with any slick stuff. The bike really felt like it weighed a metric ton. It's initial weight sure didn't help, but then add on 15-20# of tacky mud and it was just annoying. I saw the sign at timing and scoring that said end time was 2:26, and saw that it was 2:16. I was more than happy to have a 10 minute lap, as I really didn't feel like pushing for another 2 laps; 1 last one would be more than enough.

I honestly don't know where I finished in the race. The facility has been struggling with their timing\scoring system. It hasn't really worked for the past several years I've been racing there. I got back to the truck and packed up and we peaced out. I'm mildly curious to see how I fared, but am not exactly optimistic about my result.

So tonight, I'm going to test the 250F. This should be interesting, as my left leg doesn't really move properly, and my right shoulder is on the fritz. Crashing apparently hurts. I'm getting old . I need to test the bike though. Stadium MX this Friday. We'll see how I do in a sprint vs an endurance event.

I made some changes the past couple weeks. Aside from exercising more (and actually running, which I hate with a passion), I also decided to cut things off with my YZ250F. The last test with it was a bust, so I sold it cheap and snagged a replacement this past weekend:

I've only raced a suzuki riding supermoto. Never in the dirt. I tested it yesterday and I gotta say I am very impressed. I rode on a local somewhat iffy MX track, and the bike handled much better than I had anticipated. I'm very happy with how it feels. I feel I have the confidence I had with my YZ, with the added bonus of turning on a dime. This should be potent for woods.

Raced this past weekend. Lesson (re)learned: No matter what, I MUST Eat morning of the race.

Quick synopsis:
I pulled 2nd off the line. By the end of the first lap, I was spent. I completed, but sweet word did I ride terribly.

I honestly hated racing during that race. I was thinking about work while racing. Yes....Work. I was hating the fact that they had an EnduroCross section in the race. I was hating how terribly I was riding. Literally, I've never felt so damn slow in my life as I did during this race. Knowing I have speed, but being unable to "put the pen to paper" so to speak more or less infuriated me.

I was in my head, and that is no good.

While attempting to cruise along, I thought about how it must be a fitness thing, which is partially true. I could be better with my fitness. After venting to my wife afterwords, her and I concluded that my Intermittent Fasting eating schedule has been detrimental to my race performance. The absolute lack of ability to focus and the such quick loss in performance can't solely be my fitness.

So lesson learned. As much as I work on avoiding carbs, and as much as it mess up my "routine", in the morning of a race, I NEED to consume food for energy. Not that I'm opposed to eating food at all.

If I read that right you sound like your avoiding Carbohydrates correct? You sound like the amature bodybuilder I work with who knows only of the cover of any nutrition book

I would like to go back to the 1960's and punch Robert Atkins in the face. Your body NEEDS sugar (carbohydrates) to function. Nothing works without it. When you don't eat sugar your body turns protein into glucose (sugar) through a process called Gluconeogenesis. Its not really efficient and your body doesn't like it. Also it finds that protein from what you eat...or other places

Your body also turns fat into sugar. It splits it down into each part, one glycerol and three fatty acid chains. Then these are stored in a fat cell and then used later. All of this has to be done before the body can get any fuel out of fat or protein. Carbohydrates on the other hand are taken straight into the blood stream at the very moment the stomach empties into the intestines.

More food for thought, no pun intended. Your brain can't function on anything but sugar. Also, a lot of it. The howler monkey is about three times the size of a capuchain monkey. You know one of those small black and white carnival monkey's, that thing eats more than a howler monkey because of its larger brain size even though its less than half a howler monkey's size. You can't think when you don't eat, this is why students feel drained after studying hard or a tough test.

Eat carbohydrates. Eat them often and a lot. Your body will work better, think smarter, and let you exercise harder before bonking.

I won't bother getting into a diet debate. Suffice to say, I know what needs to be adjusted & have begun formulating my plan for future events.

Andrew

PS - For reference, my wife & I follow a Paleo\Primal diet. I use the Lean Gains\IF principle as it has been a good fit for me & how I eat\sleep\etc. I will admit that I have not done enough research on how Endurance Athletes cope with the additional stresses of events and sticking to the Paleo\Primal diet. I've done some, but not enough to develop a proper plan for myself.

Quick update. Raced last weekend on the RMX250 again. Had a really good race. I got another good start. I was 2nd\3rd going into the 1st turn, and was able to hold my line and keep 2nd going into turn one. I kept up with the kid in front of me for most of the first lap, but wasn't able to hold his speed the entire time. I was ok with that though, as I felt confident in the bike, and was holding a decent speed (or at least what I felt was decent). I got passed by another guy early on, who was holding speed up there with the guy in 1st.

I had a near crash at the start finish when I caught my brake lever on my knee guard. Kind of a goofy one, so I made sure to not make the mistake again. I noted that in the slower section, I was far better off keeping the bike in 3rd, vs dropping to 2nd gear. I was able to be more aggressive on the throttle since the power wouldn't build as quickly, and a quick squirt of the clutch got the bike on the pipe and me up and moving away.

I rode smooth, rode with confidence, and best of all, I was having fun racing. Seeing that I was leading my class each lap was a boost for sure, but it didn't matter. Feeling that I was riding at a quick pace, and holding that for just under 2 hours straight was the best to me. My body wasn't feeling destroyed, and at the end of the race, I felt pretty well.

As I got to look at the results, I found the 2 guys who passed me were in the "98-250 B" class (I'm in open B). The guy who overalled the B class, was up there with the AA guys, so I was ok with it. I finished 1st in my class, 3rd Overall B, and 10th overall for the race. It wasn't a huge turnout, but I'll take it . On top of that, my lap times were within a few seconds of each other (excluding my 1 fast lap). I'm very happy with that considering it ended up being 10 laps at 11 minutes each.

So what do I think happened compared to the prior races? Food. Saturday night I had a giant meatloaf dinner and a few pints of Guinness. Sunday AM, I had 1/2 - 3/4 pound of bacon, 2 eggs, and some cereal. On top of that, my wife made me a killer smoothie. I thought I was gonna explode after finishing off that smoothie, but managed to keep it all in. I also ate a small "Raw Bar", and an Andrew approved PB&J (far too much PB & J on gluten free bread) sandwich. Just before my race, I downed 2 of those Gatorade pre-game juice things. I figured if I was going to eat...I was going to eat. Only downside with all this (aside from it throwing off my...routine) is that food combined with pre-race jitters put me in the restroom far more times than I wanted. Oh well. Small price to pay.

I'd be interested to hear more about your diet/workout routine. Do you ride/train with a heart rate monitor?

I've been mostly paleo too for the last five months or so. My energy levels feel so much better on the bike it's not even funny, despite carrying a pretty big calorie deficit while trying to drop some weight.

I'd be interested to hear more about your diet/workout routine. Do you ride/train with a heart rate monitor?

I've been mostly paleo too for the last five months or so. My energy levels feel so much better on the bike it's not even funny, despite carrying a pretty big calorie deficit while trying to drop some weight.

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Sorry for delay in response. It's been a hectic few weeks. Thanks for the congrats. It felt good to see positive results. Now I gotta keep the momentum moving forward.

Diet has been a loose paleo\primal diet. I probably still eat stuff that aren't "legit". We (my wife and I) drink milk, though we get raw milk from Guernsey Cows. I don't drink it unless I'm having some cereal....the crap is expensive. We try to cut out sugar, though it's damn near impossible to 100% cut it out. I try to limit my intake of sugars to when I know I'm going to burn the stuff right away. I've got a hell of a sweet tooth, so.....I'll just say that I slip on occasion .

I like you have found a great boost in my energy. I can tell when I haven't eaten properly. The downside is that my body is a bit less tolerant of eating crappy foods now. I could have worse problems, but when out on riding trips, or looking for a quick\easy meal...things get tricky.

I haven't given up beer, though I don't drink too much. I've found I like the wine my wife gets, but I can drink that far too quickly for my own good.

Regarding working out.......I've been far too slack with it as of late. I've convinced myself that spending a couple hours at the skatepark is a good workout of some sort. It's not high cardio, but does work on my balance, coordination, and all that crap. Plus jumping around on the concrete for a few hours helps keep the muscles sorted.

I plan to do a 3x a week rowing sessions, but since the ground isn't completely snow covered, I'm less than excited about sitting there dedicating free time to it. Beyond that....I dunno.

I guess for the next month or so I'm taking mental time off from thinking about much of anything dirtbike related.

Andrew.

PS - I can say that last weekend after test riding a GasGas 300 & Husky 310, I'm even more confused on my bikes. I rode like the wind on the GasGas, The Husky felt phenomenal, and then getting back on my WR afterwords, I was able to ride it faster than ever before.

Good stuff. I love working out on the rower - I have a concept2 at home. I also do weights and a crossfit style conditioning workout or two each week.

I know what you mean about being less tolerant of crappy foods. I ate some greasy pizza hut pizza last night, and am feeling the effects today. I also still like to drink a few beers now and then, but I notice a huge difference in sleep quality after consuming alcohol.